International agreements

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March, 1, 2020. Ghani said Sunday he won't be releasing the 5,000 prisoners the Taliban say must be freed before intra-Afghan negotiations can begin. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace...

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader shack hands after signing a peace agreement between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. The United States is poised to sign a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing U.S. troops to return home from America's longest war. (AP Photo/Hussein Sayed)

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Acknowledging a military stalemate after nearly two decades of conflict, the United States on Saturday signed a peace agreement with the Taliban that is aimed at ending America's longest war and bringing U.S. troops home from Afghanistan more 18 years after they invaded in the...

FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2011, file photo, a U.S. Marine fires a heavy machine gun to counter Taliban fire from a nearby tree line in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. The Marines departed in transport helicopters, their destination classified. Veterans of America's longest war are torn as the U.S. signs a potentially historic peace accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan. For many, the U.S. is overdue in withdrawing its forces after more than 18 years of fighting. Others are wary of the Taliban, whose hard-line government the U.S.-led forces overthrew in 2001. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Veterans of America's longest war are finding themselves torn as the U.S. signs a potentially historic peace accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan. For many, the U.S. is long overdue in withdrawing its forces after more than 18 years of fighting. Others question the...

In this Feb. 26, 2020 photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the Brady press briefing room of the White House in Washington. America's longest war may finally be nearing an end, after nearly two decades that outlasted two commanders in chief and is now helmed by a third. More than 18 years since the conflict began in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, the United States and the Islamists it toppled from power in Afghanistan are poised to sign a peace deal on Saturday.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's longest war may finally be nearing an end. The United States and the Islamists it toppled from power in Afghanistan are poised to sign a peace deal Saturday after a conflict that outlasted two U.S. commanders in chief and is now led by a third eager to fulfill a campaign...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he's dispatching Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the signing of an agreement with the Afghan Taliban aimed at beginning a draw down of thousands of U.S. troops and ending America's 18-year involvement in the war. Trump said Pompeo would...

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. On the eve of a potentially historic deal with the U.S. and the Taliban to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan, former Karzai welcomed the signing of the agreement, thanked Americans for their generosity, but had harsh words for the U.S. government and military. (AP Photo/Tamana Sarwary)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — On the eve of a potentially historic deal with the U.S. and the Taliban to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the signing of the agreement, thanked Americans for their generosity, but had harsh words for the U.S. government...

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese vice minister for justice is heading to Lebanon for talks on the case of former Nissan Motor Co. executive Carlos Ghosn, who fled for his home country late last year while out on bail awaiting trial. Justice Minister Masako Mori said Friday that she was dispatching the...

LONDON (AP) — Britain laid out its opening demands for upcomingtrade talks with the European Union on Thursday,including a blunt threat to walk away from the negotiating table if there is no progress within four months. The two sides appear headed for a rocky first round of negotiations as they try...

A Russian diplomat on Thursday reaffirmed Moscow's push for extending the last remaining nuclear treaty with the United States, saying there is no time left to negotiate any changes to that. Vladimir Leontyev, a deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's arms control department, said during...

Supporters of Julian Assange hold placards as they protest on the second day of a week of opening arguments for the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange outside Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in south east London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. U.S. authorities, want to try Assange on espionage charges. A lawyer for the Americans said the Australian computer expert was an “ordinary” criminal whose publication of hundreds of thousands of secret military documents put many people at risk of torture and death. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) — A lawyer for Julian Assange argued Wednesday that the WikiLeaks founder should not be sent to the United States because a U.K.-U.S. treaty bans extradition for political offenses. Assange, 48, is wanted in the U.S. on spying charges over the leaking of classified government documents...